I was about halfway through with the preparations for dinner when Kate,
JC, Star, and Justin showed up. JC
and Justin went downstairs to the game room with Lance and Kate and Star came in
the kitchen to help me. I was
thankful to have the extra two pairs of hands.
Between the three of us, we got done pretty quickly.
We made a few trips back and forth between the kitchen and the dining
room carrying all the food to the table. We’d
put in the leaves to make it large enough for all of us.
When we got everything set up, I hollered down the stairs to the guys to
come up. I heard a chorus of
‘okays’.
“I’m gonna go freshen up girls.”
I told Kate and Star, then went upstairs.
I changed out of my apron and cooking clothes.
After wiping my face and touching up my makeup, I slipped on some nice
khaki pants and a pullover sweater. Satisfied
with my appearance, I went back downstairs and found Kate and Star barricading
the door to the dining room so that the guys couldn’t get in.
“God, it’s about time dear.” Lance
whined. “I can’t even get in my
own dining room.”
“That’s because I had the girls hold down the fort for me. We couldn’t have you guys scarfing down all the food, now
could we?” I pinched him on the
cheek and we all went into the dining room.
Dinner went smoothly. We
made light conversation about each others’ lives and enjoyed the food and the
wine. Justin and JC complimented me
on the food, and I told them that Star and Kate had as much to do with it as I
did. After dinner, we sat around
talking until about 10pm. Then the
other two couples said their goodbyes and headed home.
Lance and I went up to our bedroom.
We got undressed and lay in bed holding each other.
“I miss the kids.” Lance
said.
“I know babe. They’ll be
home in the morning.” I told him.
We kissed goodnight and went to sleep.
**
I was the first to wake up the next morning, as usual. I took my shower and woke Lance up so that he could take one.
We sat around being lazy until the kids got home at 11am.
My mom asked if we’d had a good time and I told her yes and thanked her
again for keeping them. She stayed
and chatted a little while, then started her 2 hour drive back home. Lance and I took the kids to the park and to Discovery Zone
to make up for not spending time with them over the weekend.
We all had a wonderful time.
*one
week later*
“I’ll
be back tomorrow afternoon dear, I have to go to the studio to meet the guys and
do a couple interviews.” Lance
told me. He picked up his bags and
I followed him out to the car.
“You
sure you don’t want me to drive you to the airport?”
I asked hopefully. I always
hated when he had to leave.
He
puts his bags in the SUV and turned around, taking me in his arms.
“No dear. I’ll be fine.
It’s just as easy to do it this way.”
We kissed lingeringly and he left. I
watched him til he was out of the driveway, then I went back into the house.
The kids were taking a nap so I went to our bedroom to lay down.
I couldn’t fall asleep though, I had this weird feeling something bad
was going to happen.
~~with
Lance~~
Lance stepped off the airplane and looked around to see if any of the
guys came to pick him up. He
didn’t see anyone, so he figured on just getting a cab.
He started walking through the airport when he heard a voice behind him.
“Lance Bass, is that you?”
He turned around and came face to face with a leggy blonde.
“Alecia?”
“Yeah, it’s me. How’ve
you been?” She pulled him into a
hug and kissed him on the cheek.
Lance felt his cheeks redden. “I’ve
been fine. Pretty busy actually.
How bout you?” He asked her.
“I’ve been great. I’ve
heard all about you. It’s such a
big coincidence that we meet like this. I’m
a production assistant for a music video company.
I’m pretty sure we’re going to be working together on you guys’ new
video!” Alecia rattled off.
Lance stood there in shock. He
hadn’t seen her since high school and she looked really great. She was wearing a well-tailored business suit.
~~flashback~~
After the prom, Lance and Alecia had started dating.
I had to admit I was a little hurt, but we’d made no commitment to each
other. I felt a little stronger
towards him, but it was obvious that he didn’t feel the same way.
He was with Alecia now and I let it go.
We still talked, but not as much before because she didn’t really like
me. They dated until 6 months after
Lance went oversees with Nsync. She
had broken it off, saying that she couldn’t handle a long-distance
relationship anymore. But I knew the truth. She
was seeing someone else. I was
pissed off because Lance had called me after she broke up with him, heartbroken.
I had wanted to beat her face in, but he convinced me not to do it.
Of course, I didn’t tell him the real reason she dumped him. I didn’t want to hurt his feelings any more than she
already had.
~~end
flashback~~
Lance snapped back to reality realizing that Alecia had said something to
him. “I’m sorry, what did you
say?”
“I said, I see that you’re married.”
She replied a little too sweetly.
“Sure am. You remember
Melloria right?” A smile came to
his face. “We’ve been together
almost 4 years now. We’ve got 2
kids too.” He pulled out his
wallet to show her pictures of the kids.
“Oh really?” Alecia
raised her eyebrows and looked down at the pictures he was holding out. “They are adorable!”
She exclaimed. Then she
looked down at her watch. “Well,
it was nice to see you Lance, but I’ve gotta get going.”
“You too Alecia. I guess
I’ll be seeing you again.” Lance
hugged her again and watched her walk away.
Then he walked out to the curb to catch a cab.
Lance paid the cab driver and walked up the stairs to the studio.
All of the other guys were already there and they were standing around
talking. Lance walked in the door
and was greeted immediately by the other four.
“Hey man, how’s your time off going so far?”
Chris asked.
“Just fine. So what are we
doing today?” Lance told Chris
and asked the rest of the group. The
guys looked at him strangely because he was usually the one to have their agenda
memorized.
After the initial shock wore off, Justin replied, “Well, we’ve got an
interview with MTV, then we’re meeting the people that are doing the new
video.”
Lance’s mouth dropped open.
“What is it Lance?” Joey
asked.
“I, um, just met one of them at the airport.
I went to high school with her. Do
you guys remember me taking about a girl named Alecia?”
“You don’t mean Alecia that dumped you while we were in Europe, do
you?” Justin asked.
“Yeah. That’s the
one.” Lance said.
“Oh boy. This could be
weird. That’s not gonna bother
you is it Lance?” JC sounded a
little worried.
“Oh heck no.” Lance
replied a little too quickly. The
guys decided to leave it at that and got to work.
They rehearsed the song they were going to do on MTV that afternoon and
broke for lunch a little after noon. They
were all tired and didn’t want to try and fight the crowds, so they ordered
some Chinese. After a quick lunch,
they headed to their hotel and changed into fresh clothes for the MTV interview.
It went smoothly and they went back to the hotel to change clothes again
before their dinner meeting with the video producers.
Johnny had arranged a business dinner for them at a really nice
restaurant. The guys arrived first
and waited for the others to show. About
10 minutes later, they did and Alecia made it a point to sit beside Lance. He
was noticeably uncomfortable with this, but refused to say anything rude.
Alecia had on a short black skirt and a tight white shirt.
Her shapely legs were even more emphasized by the black strappy heels she
had on. She purposely kept brushing
her leg against Lance’s throughout the dinner.
But on the outside, she was all business.
She went over her ideas for the video with the guys and they settled on
one during dessert. They were to
start work tomorrow. Alecia and her
colleagues excused themselves. After
they had left, talk erupted between the five friends again.
“Tomorrow? I told Melloria
I’d be home tomorrow!” Lance
was obviously frustrated. Chris and
Joey were equally upset at the thought of being away from their wives during
their time off.
“Well, we’ll just have to deal man.”
Justin told them. They
grumbled some more, but headed back to the hotel to get some sleep.
Once he was in his room, Lance called home to tell his wife the new plan.
It was late and he knew she’d be asleep, but he had to call her tonight
because they had to be on location early in the morning.
~~
I heard the phone ringing and looked at the clock. It was almost midnight.
I bolted up in bed, thinking something had happened to Lance.
“Hello?” I almost
shouted into the phone.
“Hey babe. It’s me.”
I was relieved to hear his voice on the other end.
“Why are you calling me so late Lance?
“Well, I have some bad news.” He
answered slowly.
I could tell something was up. “What
is it?”
“I won’t be home tomorrow like I said.
It’s gonna be a few days, possibly not til the end of the week.”
Lance told me quickly.
“What?! Why?”
I was upset at this.
“We start work on the new video tomorrow.
You know this stuff happens Melly.”
There was irritation in Lance’s voice.
“Why are you taking that tone of voice with me Lance? I’m just upset because it’s supposed to be your time off
to spend with your family.” I bit
back.
“I’m sorry babe. It’s
just been a long day. We just found
out about an hour ago. I need to
get some rest now. I’ll call you
tomorrow night. I love you.”
“I love you too. Bye.”
I replied and hung up the phone. I
sat on the edge of the bed staring off at nothing in particular.
The bad feeling in the pit of my stomach was getting worse.
I was sure that something bad was going to happen in Orlando.
In
Orlando
The next morning all the guys got up and met in the lobby of the motel.
They weren’t even sure of where they were going yet.
That one detail had been kept from them. They
climbed into the limo and were taken to a small airfield.
They looked at each other and smiled wryly. The new song was “Fly” so they should have guessed.
Climbing out, they looked around. The
camera crews were already there and setting up equipment in various locations.
They were talking amongst themselves and didn’t notice that Alecia had
walked to where they were standing. She
stood there with her hands on her hips waiting for them to realize she was
there. She got tired of waiting
after a couple of minutes and cleared her throat.
“Oh sorry Alecia.” Chris
apologized.
“That’s quite alright. Are
you ready to get to work?” She
asked and when they all nodded their agreement, she continued.
“Okay, this is what we’re gonna start out with…”
She went on pointing out different areas of the ‘set’ as she talked.
They were gonna to start separate, with each guy in a different spot,
acting like he was preparing for take-off.
Justin, JC, and Joey would be in their own small engine planes. Lance and Joey would be in separate hangars, dressing in
flight suits. They all took their
places and crew members began telling them what the first shot would be.
Conveniently, Alecia followed Lance to his spot.
Lance was putting the flight suit he’d found in the hangar on over his
clothes when he heard someone behind him. He
turned around to find Alecia staring at him.
Surprisingly, he felt himself blushing.
“Why Lance, what are you getting all embarrassed before? It’s not like I haven’t seen you in a lot less.”
Alecia had a mischievous grin on her face.
“It’s different now. I’m
married.” Lance replied. He couldn’t help looking her over though.
She had on skin tight capri pants and a shirt that looked a bandana with
strings. It was pointed at the top
and bottom, exposing part of her flat stomach and tied in the back.
The shirt was tight too, showing off her full breasts.
Alecia noticed him staring at her and sauntered towards him. “Here, let me help you with that zipper.”
Before he could protest, she’d taken hold of the zipper on the front of
the flight suit and slowly pulled it up to his chin.
Then she leaned in to fix the collar, her mouth a little close to his
ear. “There, that’s just
perfect.” She purred seductively.
Lance swallowed and stepped back, determined to put some distance between
them. “Thanks.
Is everyone else ready?”
Alecia ignored the question and stepped closer again, pretending to brush
his shoulders off. “They should
be in a few minutes.” She was
deliberately taunting him.
Still standing close, she explained what he had to do in the first shot.
After a few minutes of purposely torturing
him, she went off to find out if the others were ready in their spots.
Lance sighed deeply, grateful that she was gone.
He didn’t know what was the matter with himself.
He loved his wife very much. But
he and Alecia had a history as well, and she certainly looked gorgeous, he
couldn’t deny that. But he had to get a grip and focus on the job at hand.
He heard someone outside call ‘action’ and took his place, preparing
for his shot.
They worked hard all day long and well into the night. When Alecia was finally satisfied that they had it as perfect as humanly possible, she told everyone that it was a wrap. The guys all started trudging to the limo, wanting nothing more than a bed and a hot shower.
Alecia caught up with Lance. “So. You wanna go have a drink?”
He stopped and turned to look at her. “Not tonight Alecia. I’m really tired.” Then he turned and got in the limo with the other guys.
Alecia was left standing and if they could have seen her facial expression, they’d have known that she was fuming.
The limo pulled away from the airfield and headed back towards the hotel. “Looks like that Alecia chick was on you pretty bad man.” JC observed.
“I don’t wanna talk about it right now JC.” Lance replied and leaned his head against the back of the seat.
They arrived at the hotel without any further conversation, the guys were all too tired. They drug themselves into the elevator, then down the hall of the floor they’d reserved and into their rooms.
Lance leaned against the door as he shut it behind him. A million things were racing through his mind. He wondered why Alecia was so intent on flirting with him. She knew he was married. He decided not to think about and call home. He figured he would be able to go home tomorrow since they’d finished shooting the video. He went into the bathroom and brushed his teeth. When he came back out, he collapsed on the bed and reached for the phone. Just before his hand touched the cradle, it started ringing.
“Hello?” He answered, wondering who was calling him.
“Hey man.” It was Joey. “I just some news you’re not gonna like. We have to redo part of the video tomorrow.”
“What? Why?” Lance sat up in bed with a sudden burst of energy.
“I don’t know. That’s just what I was told. We have to be downstairs at 8 in the morning.” Joey said.
“Oh alright. Whatever. I’ll see you in the morning Joe.” Lance replied and when Joey said goodbye he hung up the phone. He put his face in his hands. Sighing, he picked up the phone and dialed home.
**
I sat up in bed when the phone rang. It was after 11pm, so I figured it had to be Lance. “Hello?” I mumbled sleepily.
“Hey babe.” Lance said from the other end.
“What’s the matter Lance? You sound really tired.” I was concerned about him as usual.
“We just got back from shooting the video. I thought I was going to get to come home tomorrow, but I was just told that we had to redo part of it.” He said all in one breath.
“Dammit.” I was frustrated that he was having to stay so long on his time off.
“I know honey. I thought we had it finished today, but someone changed their minds. Hopefully, we’ll get done shooting tomorrow and I’ll catch the first flight home.” Lance tried to console me.
“What do the other guys think about this?”
“I don’t know, I only talked to Joey, but I’m sure they’re not happy either. We’ll all do our best to get finished tomorrow.” Lance replied.
“Alright. There’s nothing I can do about it. Get some rest and call me tomorrow when you find out. I love you.”
“I love you too.” Lance said and hung up the phone.
**
Alecia sat on her bed in the hotel smiling to herself. She knew there was nothing really wrong with the video, but she couldn’t let Lance go that easily. She was sure there was some way to get him to forget about his wife. She switched off the bedside lamp and closed her eyes.
The next morning everyone was downstairs in the lobby at 8am. The guys were actually a few minutes early because they were all eager to get home. Joey and Chris missed their wives as much as Lance missed his. Justin and JC were ready to get back to Kate and Star as well. When the limo pulled up, they all climbed in and got ready for another day of work. They arrived at the location and saw that the video crew was already there setting up the equipment. Alecia was waiting for them when they got out.
“Okay guys. There are a few more shots I want to redo, but I won’t keep you long.” She told them. She went over a few things and everyone took their places. They were going to be redoing the beginning and end shots. The beginning ones went fine, but just as they were taking their places for the end shots, one of the cameras crashed to the hard asphalt and shattered into a few thousand pieces.
“What the hell happened Brandon?” Alecia shouted as she came running from the other side of the set. Though she knew full well what had happened. She had paid him $500 to break the camera, causing a hold up of at least a couple of hours.
“I don’t know Alecia. I was rolling the stand over for the next shot and it just toppled. I guess I must have hit a rough spot.” The cameraman replied. He seemed nervous, so no one had the slightest clue it was all planned.
“Yeah I guess you did.” Alecia replied caustically. “Shit. Now someone’s going to have to go buy a new one.”
“Can’t we just use one of the others for this shot?” Brandon asked.
In reality, this could have been done. But Alecia figured that none of the guys knew this, so she took a chance. “No you moron, we can’t. And don’t ask me why because I don’t have time to explain it to you. Just go into town and find another one FAST!” She barked. Then she turned to the guys. “I’m sorry you guys. It looks like we’re gonna have a bit of a delay here.” She faked sympathy. There was a collective groan from Justin, Joey, JC, Chris, and Lance. She fought back a smile and her genius plan. “Why don’t we all go into that hangar over there and I’ll have someone bring us some drinks.”
Everyone agreed since there wasn’t much they could do about the situation and walked to the hangar. A few of the camera crew followed them with chairs. Soon after they brought drinks for everyone. The crewman handing out the drinks was careful. Alecia had already drugged Lance’s drink and threatened him with worse than just losing his job if he mixed them up. She had planned carefully, picking a drug that wouldn’t take effect for a few hours. Enough time, she figured, to carry out the rest of her plan. They sat around discussing the details of the final shots until Brandon returned with a new camera. They finished the shot without further hindrance, again insured by Alecia herself. After they were done, the guys headed back to the hotel. When the limo had pulled away, Alecia turned to her crew.
“You guys did wonderful and you’ll be rewarded accordingly.” She told them and walked off. She got into her bright blue sports car and headed back to her hotel. Twilight was setting in, so she was sure the guys would be staying the night again. The drug she’d given Lance would start working soon and she was sure he wouldn’t want to be going anywhere tonight. Except for where she planned to take him, that was. And that didn’t require leaving his motel room.
Chapter 15
When the guys got back to the hotel, it was decided that they would wait until in the morning to go home because it was getting late. Lance walked in the door to his room, and sat down on the bed. He was suddenly feeling very dizzy. He shook it off. Probably because he hadn’t ate much that day, he reasoned. He picked up the phone and called home.
**
I was sitting on the couch watching TV when the phone rang. I got up and walked to the kitchen. “Hello?”
“Hi honey. It’s me. I’ve got good news for you.” Lance told me.
“You’re at the airport and you need me to come get you?” I asked hopefully.
He laughed a little. “No. But I will catch an early flight tomorrow morning. The next flight they had tonight wasn’t until midnight.”
“Oh, alright.” I conceded. “But you better be here early because I miss you.”
“I miss you too dear.” Lance replied.
“Lance? Is everything okay?” I asked him, thinking of the bad feeling I had.
“Yeah. Why do you ask?” He sounded fine.
“No reason really. I just had a bad feeling. But I’ll let you get some sleep and I’ll see you tomorrow morning. I love you.” I said, deciding to drop it.
“Okay. I love you too.” He hung up the phone.
Afterwards, I sat there on the couch, staring at the TV, but not really seeing anything. I flipped the channel over to CMT. One of the Dixie Chicks’ songs, You Were Mine, was just starting.
After the song was over, the bad feeling in the pit of my stomach was even worse. I couldn’t seem to shake it, and that song hadn’t helped any. I picked the phone back up and called Kate. The answering machine picked up, and I hung up without leaving a message. Not giving up, I dialed Star’s number.
Someone picked up the phone and I could hear Reggae playing loudly in the background. “Hello?” The person on the other end half shouted.
“Star?” I asked loudly.
“Yeah it’s me. Melloria?”
“Yep. What are you doing, having a party?” I felt silly hollering, but I didn’t have a choice. Just then someone turned the music down.
“There. That’s better. No, I’m not having a party. Kate and I are just jammin’ and acting like fools. Sup?” Star’s voice was a normal tone now.
“Not much. Lance just called me and said that he would be home in the morning. But I have this really strong feeling that something bad is going to happen. You guys wanna come over here? I could really use the company.” I told her.
“Yeah sure.” Star replied. “Justin and JC called here too. We’ll be there in 30 minutes or so.”
“Alright. See ya in a bit.” I said and hung up the phone. While I waiting for them to get there, I went upstairs to check on the kids. They were sleeping peacefully. Just in case, I decided to call the babysitter. Thankfully, she was home and agreed to come over and stay in the upstairs guest room. She got there before Star and Kate because she just lived a few miles down the road from us. I told her that I had friends coming over and that we would be down in the basement. She was a great sitter and came at the drop of a hat many times, but I paid her well. I left her upstairs with the kids and went back down to the living room to wait for Star and Kate. They arrived shortly afterwards and we went down to the basement so we wouldn’t wake the children. We shut the door to keep the noise out and turned on the stereo. I grabbed a few bottles out of the wet bar and mixed up some strawberry daquiris.
“So, what’s going on in that overactive imagination of yours, girlfriend?” Kate asked spinning around the room with her drink.
“I don’t know. I just have this feeling that something bad is going to happen while Lance is in Orlando.” I told her and poured Star a drink out of the blender. Then I poured myself one and stepped out from behind the bar. We talked back and forth about minor things and danced around the room.
In Orlando
Lance’s eyes were getting fuzzy, so he turned off the tv and laid back in the bed. He was drifting off to sleep when he heard a knock on the door. Figuring it was one of the other guys, he drug himself out of the bed and opened the door. His head was really fuzzy now and he just went back to the bed without really paying attention to who it was.
Alecia smiled as she walked into the room, noticing that the drug she gave Lance was in full effect. He was already half asleep on the bed. She walked up to the edge of the bed and eased down next to him. She touched his face and he mumbled something incoherently. She leaned down and kissed him. When she pulled away, he mumbled something again. Only this time, she understood him. He’d said, “Melloria.” Alecia frowned. ‘Damn her!’ she thought. He was too out of it. She wanted him to remember a few details at least. If he didn’t, her plan wouldn’t work. She reached into her purse and pulled out her cell phone. She called the number she’d gotten the other drug from.
“Hello?” The voice on the end said.
“This is Alecia. I need something else. The one you gave me worked too well. He’s almost unconscious.”
“Get him something to drink. Like a martini. It’ll bring him out of it temporarily.”
“Alright. Bye.” She hung up the phone and called room service. She didn’t know if he liked martinis, but she was going to try. It only took a few minutes and she heard a knock on the door. She’d gotten one for herself too. After downing hers, she took the other one with her and sat down on the bed beside Lance again. She got him to sit up and coaxed him into swallowing the drink. A few minutes passed and he seemed more coherent.
“Alecia, what are you doing in my room? How did you get in?” Lance seemed genuinely shocked that she was there.
“I picked the lock, hot stuff. And I figure we’ve got some stuff to catch up on.”
Chapter 16
“You picked the lock to my room?!?!” Lance repeated incredulously. “What on earth would make you do such a thing?”
Alecia didn’t like the tone of voice he was using. “I thought you’d be happy to see me Lance. You didn’t forget all the things we shared did you?” She purred even though she was getting a little nervous. She hadn’t expected him to get this lucid after the alcohol.
“No I didn’t forget. But that’s in the past Alecia. I’m happily married and have 2 beautiful children. I’m not about to throw that all away for one night with an old flame.” Lance was getting irritated. He was tired, he missed his family and this woman wouldn’t go away so that he could go to sleep.
Alecia was getting mad. Her perfect plan was starting to fall apart. She stood there looking at him with what she hoped to be a pouty face. It didn’t seem to be working though because he was still glaring at her. Just as she was about to give up, Lance’s face relaxed into a more peaceful mask. He smiled at her again. She smiled back and decided to test the waters a little. She walked over to the edge of the bed. Lance was still sitting with his back resting against the headboard. Alecia sat down next to him and started to lean closer. He was looking into her eyes, but it didn’t seem like he was going to protest. Finally, their lips touched. Lance didn’t respond at first, but he didn’t pull away either. Alecia pulled back for a minute and looked into his eyes. She didn’t think he really realized what he was doing, but that didn’t matter. She would get what she wanted. She smiled and leaned back in.
Back at Lance’s house
Kate, Star and I were goofing around in the basement. I stopped all of a sudden and they both looked at me.
“What’s the matter?” Kate asked.
“It’s happening right now.” I said.
“What’s happening now?” Star asked with a confused look on her face.
“The feeling I had that something bad was going to happen…it’s happening right now. I can feel it? I have to do something. You girls up for a plane ride?” I knew I wasn’t making any sense. But the feeling was taking over my body.
“Sure why not?” Kate and Star replied and we all went upstairs.
“Let me go tell the sitter.” I walked upstairs and found her sitting on the bed in the guest room that she used when she stayed over night to watch the kids. “I need a favor.” I said simply.
She looked up from her book. “What is it?”
“I need to go to Orlando right now. And I’m not sure when I will be back. It will probably be sometime tomorrow, but I can’t give you a set time. Can you stay here? Of course I will pay you extra.” I hadn’t meant to sound desperate, but I was sure that I did.
She seemed to think for a minute. “Sure. Whatever you need.”
“Thanks. I will pay you when I get back.” I replied and went to my bedroom. I grabbed a change of clothes and some other overnight stuff and threw the items into a carryon bag. I practically ran back down the stairs. Kate and Star were standing in the living room. “Let’s go.” I told them, already on my way out the door. I started to get in my car, but Kate stopped me.
“You’re in no condition to drive. We’ll take mine.” She wasn’t giving me a choice.
I smiled weakly and got in on the passenger side. Star got in the back and we sped out of the driveway and down the road towards town. We made a quick stop at Star’s so that her and Kate could grab some extra clothes and went straight to the airport. Luckily when we got there, we found out that they had a flight leaving in 30 minutes. I paid for our tickets and we sat down to wait. None of us said anything, which was good because I wasn’t sure that I could carry on a coherent conversation. Kate and Star seemed to understand. We got on the plane and sat back. The flight to Orlando was short. Only a couple of hours. But they seemed like years for me. I looked at my watch and noticed that it was going on 2am. Finally, we landed and rushed to the car rental counter. I paid for the car and once again Kate refused to let me drive. I told her which hotel the guys were staying at, and she drove straight there. We were all familiar with the city, having been there so much. Once we got to the hotel, I went straight to the front desk. I told the clerk who I was and said that I needed a key to Lance’s room.
He glanced at me with a slightly amused look, “Yeah whatever lady. You wish.”
I glared at him. “Look you moron. Here’s my license. Now just give me the damn key.” I wasn’t usually rude, but these were special circumstances.
After seeing my license, he apologized with a sheepish grin and handed me the key. I raced to the elevator with Kate and Star right behind me. I tapped my foot impatiently on the way up. When we reached the correct floor, I burst through the doors and ran down the hall to Lance’s room. I unlocked the door and ran in. The room was dark, so it took my eyes a minute to adjust. When they did, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I fainted just as Kate and Star came through the door behind me, my body crumpling on the floor.
Chapter 17
Kate knelt on the floor beside me trying to get me to wake up, but Star stormed further into the room. Mind you, it was after 4am. So when Star saw Lance and Alecia half covered and obviously naked, she started shouting. Alecia sat up in the bed, exposing herself in the process, and her eyes almost popped out of her head when she saw the three of us. And as Star got closer to the bed, Alecia got more nervous.
“Get away from me you crazy bitch!” Alecia shrieked, scrambling out from under the covers and attempting to cover herself.
Star just smiled and kept advancing. Alecia realized try to talk to Star was pointless and tried to run past her. But Star reached out quickly and caught Alecia by the hair, yanking her backwards. Alecia really screamed this time. After she was jerked to the floor. Star let go of her hair and commanded her to put her clothes back on. Meanwhile, Lance was still out cold through all of this, and that little fact didn’t go unnoticed by Kate, who was still tending to my unconscious form by the door. After Alecia had put her clothes on, Star once again grabbed her by the hair and pulled her to her feet.
“Now.” Star began in an eerily calm voice. “Would like to tell me what in the HELL you are doing in bed with my best friend’s husband, naked?”
“I…um…was…” Alecia stammered.
“Quit stuttering you slut and answer me!” Star’s voice was getting louder.
Finally Alecia found her voice. “What the hell does it look like I was doing?”
Incredulous at Alecia’s bolder tone of voice, Star turned to look at Kate. Kate was still tending to me and not really paying attention to the stiuation unfolding. Without anyone to stop her, Star looked back at Alecia before making a fist with her hand and connecting it with the side of Alecia’s face. Alecia dropped to the floor unconscious with a thud. Hearing the thud, Kate looked up and her eyes got wide.
“Star, what on earth did you do?” Kate hollered.
“Me?!?! What about what she did to Lance? Speaking of Lance, he sure is a hard sleeper.” Star said.
“No one can sleep that hard.” Kate replied. “Look through her purse.”
Star searched for Alecia’s purse, and when she found it, rummaged through the contents until she came up with a small pill bottle. “Bingo.” She said and held the bottle up for Kate to see.
“Let me see that.” Kate said and Star handed her the bottle. “Just what I thought. It wouldn’t say what was inside because I’m sure she got it from some pusher. Is there a cell phone in there?”
Star looked some more and produced a black flip phone. She handed it to Kate. “What are you going to do with that?”
Kate opened the phone and hit redial, then put her fingers to her lips motioning for Star to be quite. After 3 rings, someone picked up. “Yeah this is Alecia.” Kate said into the phone.
“Hold on I’ll get him.” A male voice on the other end said. After about a minute, another man came on the line. “What do you want?”
“How long will it take for him to wake up?” Kate asked, still pretending to be Alecia.
“Well, considering you gave him too much to begin with, I’m guessing he won’t wake until mid-morning.” The man said. “Is that all you wanted?”
“Um, yeah I guess that’s it.” Kate replied.
“Then quit calling me.” He snapped and hung up.
Kate looked at the phone and saw the number on the screen. “Give me a pen.” She told Star. Star found a pen and a piece of paper on the nightstand and handed it to Kate, who wrote down the number and closed the phone again. “Now, wipe this stuff off with a Kleenex or something and put it back in her purse. I’m going to find JC.” Kate left the room and Star did what Kate had told her.
I was just waking up. I shook my head to clear the cobwebs out and saw that Kate was gone, and Alecia was laying on the floor in front of the bed. I saw Star putting some things back into Alecia’s purse. “What on earth happened?”
“You fainted girlie. Kate went to find JC and I took care of the bitch.” Star replied.
I looked up then and saw Lance lying in the bed. I remembered what had happened and started crying. “Why did he do this to me Star?”
“I don’t think it was his fault Melly. Kate thinks she drugged him. We called someone and apparently it was who she got the goods from. He said that Lance wouldn’t wake up for awhile because she gave him too much.” Star rambled off.
Just then Kate came back in the door with JC. “What the hell?” He asked, not believing what he was seeing.
“We’ll explain later. I need you to take Lance to the hospital. Tell them he’s been drugged and we’re not sure what with. Stay there with him til we get there. I’m calling the cops.” Kate said.
JC gave her a strange look and went to get the other guys. JC and Joey carried him to the elevator, and they were off to the hospital. After they were gone, Kate picked up the phone and called 911. In a few minutes, 2 officers arrived and began asking us questions.
I had come back to my senses and explained what happened the best that I could, with Kate and Star filling in the blanks. We told them that Lance had been taken to the hospital and I said that I wanted to file charges against Alecia, who was just waking up. Seeing the police in the room, she opted to keep quiet for the time being. The cops arrested her and we were told to come down to the station to make our statements. We agreed that we would after we stopped by the hospital to check on Lance.
Chapter 18
We went to check on Lance at the hospital. The doctor had ordered his stomach pumped, but the drug had already gotten into his blood stream, so it was still going to be awhile before he woke up. We decided to go down to the station and get that over with.
one month later
We had decided to file charges against Alecia for what she’d done to Lance and today was the first day of the trial. Lance and I walked into the courtroom. We looked around and saw that Star, Justin, Kate and JC were sitting in the front row on the state’s side and we went to join them.
By some miracle, the trial was over in only one day. Alecia had been charged with reckless endangerment, drug trafficking, and possession of an illegal substance. The jury was out to deliberate and soon sent in a message that had reached a verdict. We had been sitting out in the hall, having returned from grabbing a bite to eat from the deli across the street.
“Boy that was fast.” Kate observed.
“Yeah. But I’ve heard that’s a good sign for a conviction.” I replied.
We all walked back into the courtroom together. After we’d taken our seats, the judge came back in and went through the usual routine. Finally the foreperson read the verdict.
“We the jury, find the defendant, Alecia Jameson, guilty of all charges.”
I felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. She finally wasn’t going to be able to bother Lance and I anymore. I squeezed his hand and he turned to me and smiled. The judge announced that sentencing would be tomorrow morning at 9am. Our little group got up and walked out of the courtroom.
the next day
Lance and I went by ourselves to the courtroom today. The other two couples had offered to come support us, but we declined. The worst part was over and we just wanted to see this thing come to an end. We took our seats and only tensed a little as Alecia was brought in and sat at the defendant’s table. We sat silently until the judge came in and reviewed the charges and recommendations by the state. After thinking for a minute, he ordered Alecia to stand and receive her sentence. She did so and the judge went through his normal practice of pronouncing sentence.
“Alecia Jameson, having been found guilty of reckless endangerment, drug trafficking, and possession of an illegal substance, I hearby sentence you to a total of 17 years in a facility to be determined by the department of corrections.” The judge stated.
Alecia’s eyes widened. I figured she probably never thought that it would actually happen to her. As she was being led out of the courtroom, she stopped in front of where we were sitting. “I may be going to jail, but once again, you’ll be left with what I tossed aside.” She said smugly, looking straight at me.
I stood up and looked her right in the eyes. “You see, that’s where you’re wrong. I was his first and I’ll be his last and you’ll be left wishing he were yours. That’ll give you something to think about while you’re in prison.” I smiled a tight little smile and Lance and I walked out of the courtroom hand in hand.
THE END